When it comes to finding media you can trust, there is a fine between traditional television news and online news hubs. Interestingly enough, it has been determined that people put just as much faith and trust in information they acquire from search engines as they do from information broadcasted on television or printed in newspaper media.

According to data released by the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer it has been concluded trust individuals have in media has increased 5% from the previous year. Search engines have actually topped the list in terms of information portals that people trust.

Furthermore, age appears to play no role on an individual’s preference in regards to traditional news or search engine information. For example, 59% of individuals aged 18 to 29 trust traditional television news. While 61% of people prefer news they find on the Internet but only 47% prefer news from social media. On the other hand, 61% of individuals aged 30 to 44 prefer traditional news while the other 60% prefer Internet news. When it comes to a slightly older bracket, individuals age 45 to 64 say that both search engines and traditional television is equally trustworthy. However, only 29% of the individuals who are 65 and older trust news from social media sources.

Need more incentive to trust news information found on the Internet?

In 2012, it was reported that 63% of Americans alone use search engines like Google and Bing every single day. In fact, it is extremely uncommon for the average American Internet user to go for more than a day or two without turning to the world wide web to look up some type of information.